Posted on 08/03/2005 5:27:15 AM PDT by SJackson
Surrounded by heavily armed guards, international Mideast envoy James Wolfensohn toured the Erez border crossing – slated to be privatized after disengagement - Wednesday to witness the process that some 10,000 Palestinians experience daily as they enter Israel to work.
Wolfensohn said after his predawn tour that there is a "need for improvement" at Erez, the main crossing for Gaza Palestinians who work in Israel. Wolfensohn, a former president of the World Bank, is now an international coordinator for economic issues surrounding Israel's upcoming withdrawal from Gaza.
At 5 a.m., hundreds of workers lay snoozing on the cold concrete parking lot outside the Israeli terminal, waiting for a bus to take them to their jobs. Most of them had already been up for several hours in order to undergo a rigorous security check and walk through a kilometer-long tunnel across the border.
After a full day of work in physically demanding jobs, it can take many hours before they return home, due to long waits as they cross back into Gaza.
"There is no doubt on both sides that there is a need for improvement," Wolfensohn told reporters as he followed in the footsteps of workers, through the meticulously monitored tunnel, fully equipped with metal turnstiles, single-file barriers, X-ray machines, and video cameras.
"It's quite obvious that there are substantial delays both ways when you have so many people with an inadequate facility," Wolfensohn said.
Wolfensohn was joined by Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian Cabinet minister in charge of coordinating the Gaza withdrawal with the Israelis.
The PA has repeatedly argued that passage between Gaza and Israel is essential for the area's devastated economy to recover after the withdrawal.
Last year, the Erez terminal was the site of four terror attacks that claimed the lives of six Israelis. Additional security precautions were added after a 2004 bombing in which a female suicide bomber evaded initial security checks and detonated near security forces, killing four.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't disengagement mean disengagement?
Didn't Sharon say - in addition to not withdrawing under fire, LOL- that the idea is that they will be in Gaza and Israelis will be in Israel and Israel will no longer give them employment?
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